Lindsay Groves, a former employee of the Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, and Stacie Marie Laughton, a former New Hampshire state representative from Nashua, each pled guilty in federal court in Boston to multiple counts of sexual exploitation of children. Groves also admitted to an additional distribution charge tied to child sexual abuse material.
According to prosecutors, between roughly May 2022 and June 2023, Groves used bathroom breaks and diaper changes at the daycare to take nude images of very young children, some appearing to be between three and five of age, in a private bathroom. She then electronically sent those images to Laughton, with whom she had been in an intimate relationship.
A forensic review of their phones revealed thousands of text messages over about a month in 2023 discussing these images and their sexual interests. Law enforcement has identified all known minor victims and contacted their families.
Groves pled guilty on October 14, 2025, to three counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of distribution of child pornography or child sexual abuse material. Laughton pled guilty on November 03, 2025, to three counts of sexual exploitation of children. Each sexual exploitation count carries a potential prison term of 15 to 30 years, a supervised?release term of at least five years up to life, and a fine of up to $250,000. Grove's additional distribution count carries a separate five? to 20?year imprisonment range with similar supervised?release and fine exposure.
Sentencing for Groves is scheduled for February 04, 2026, and for Laughton for February 12, 2026, before a federal district judge in Massachusetts, with both defendants currently in the post?plea phase awaiting presentence investigation reports and ultimate sentencing outcomes.
Public reporting further notes that Laughton has a prior history of legal issues, including a past credit card fraud conviction, stalking and harassment allegations, and incidents involving false emergency reports.
Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/gloucester-man-charged-sexual-exploitation-minor-0
Commentary
In the above matter, the allegation is that the accused took nude images of children in a daycare bathroom.
Preventing the creation of sexual images of children in bathrooms requires organizations to treat toileting spaces as high?risk environments for abuse and to design policy, supervision, and facility layout accordingly, while still preserving appropriate privacy for children.
The above matter demonstrates that a determined insider can exploit unsupervised access to children during bathroom and diapering routines, so the primary loss?prevention objective is to eliminate isolated one?adult/one?child situations in enclosed spaces and to create monitorable patterns of supervision.
A strong written code of conduct should explicitly prohibit staff and volunteers from using personal phones, smartwatches, or any camera?enabled device in bathrooms, changing areas, or diapering spaces, and should bar any photography of children's private areas under any circumstances, including "cute" bath or potty?training photos.
This needs to be backed by clear confiscation and discipline rules, including termination for violations, and reinforced in hiring documents, staff handbooks, posted reminders near staff areas, and recurring in?person trainings. Make sure everyone understands these are zero?tolerance boundaries, not just simple "guidelines".
Supervision design is central because the above allegations involved a staff member exploiting bathroom breaks that were routine and approved. Organizations should adopt procedures where group bathroom breaks and diapering happen with staff positioned at open doors or just outside the bathroom, maintaining auditory and partial visual contact while children use stalls or changing areas. Be sure to conduct quick pre? and post?use scans to ensure no phones, cameras, or suspicious items are present.
For single?occupancy restrooms, children should need permission to go, staff should log or mentally track who is in the restroom or monitor the outside the bathroom. Supervisors should conduct frequent, documented "sweeps" of all bathroom and changing locations throughout the day, with any unexplained delays or repeated trips by a particular staff member treated as a red flag and reviewed.
Physical and technological controls should make it much harder for anyone to secretly capture images around bathroom areas without being noticed.
Cameras should never be placed inside bathrooms or changing spaces, but they can and should monitor entrances, hallways, and approaches to those areas so that patterns of staff and child movement are visible and reviewable if concerns arise.
Administrators should also conduct periodic physical inspections of bathroom ceilings, vents, fixtures, and wall hangings for hidden devices. Control who can access electrical and network closets, and maintain strict controls over any facility?owned tablets or devices so they are checked in and out, logged, password?protected, and never taken into toileting or changing spaces.
The final takeaway is that child safe organizations should build a culture where people are trained to report boundary?violating behaviors long before they rise to the level of criminal abuse.
